If you're talking about Canadian artists named after the end of the week and you're not talking about the Weeknd, you're probably talking about DEBBY FRIDAY! Expectations have been running high for the follow-up to her 2023 debut GOOD LUCK, which put her on the CanCon map with Google-grade power for those in the know, winning that year's Polaris Prize in the process.Thankfully, the amusingly titled The Starrr of the Queen of Life lives up to the hype with style to spare, making her strongest bid yet for weekend rule. It's a sweaty, clubby effort that digs just deep enough into various underground styles (hello Detroit ghettotech phenoms HiTech) to lend it some authentic grit, and a production glow-up that matches FRIDAY's confidence better than anything on her debut. Australian producer Darcy Baylis is credited here, along with Graham Walsh (METZ) and Tayhana (Rosalía), and they've shown up with enough slapping beats and icy synths to fill a year's worth of plugin hunting.The hits arrive almost immediately, with previously released ode to the club "All I Wanna Do Is Party" teeing up secret weapon "In the Club," an unexpectedly hard-hitting electro banger featuring HiTech. This in turn segues into the haters-better-watch-out stomp of "Lipsync" before things slow down for some wide-lens vulnerability on "Alberta" (wherein the name of our beloved prairie province is rhymed rather effortfully with "Porsche").It's a formidable front end, and while nothing afterwards quite matches it pound for pound, there's still plenty to like: the scratchy acoustic blues sample on "Higher" gives dusty Shaolin energy; the playfully NSFW "ppp (Interlude)" offers more than mere diversion; and of course the floor-filling two-step of pre-release single "Bet on Me" remains awesome, treading similar ground as recent work from PinkPantheress. There's even a new-wavey bop with Cure-style guitars to close things out, and FRIDAY inhabits every style with swagger — whether laying down scathing raps or working in more plaintive modes.The only real misstep is "1/17," an unfortunately placed opener that puts too much faith in its central synth arpeggio to carry things for as long as it does, finally adding a trance beat at the three-minute mark after interest has left the building. The PC Music, endless-spiral thing being attempted here fits the album's style-hopping approach, but the disconnected rhymes FRIDAY uses to mark time are not her best foot forward. However, the rest of the album crackles with such energy that the track feels bathed in a retroactive benevolence — and holistically, it functions perfectly well as a slow-burn opener, at least worth appreciating structurally in your imagination as you skip over it after a couple of listens.With a full-on pop crossover likely looming in the future given FRIDAY's aura right now, it's a treat to get an album that feels as real as The Starrr of the Queen of Life before we inevitably start hearing her music in the produce aisle. We've all gotta get our lettuce somehow, and for this sweet moment at least, FRIDAY's celestial throne remains in the strobed-out firmament of the club.
Wavelength
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